Question

Should we encourage our child to believe in Santa?

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My husband and I are trying to decide what to tell our son about Santa Claus. I still recall how hurt I was when I learned as a young child that my parents had lied to me about this. Our son is too young to know the difference now, but my husband and I both love Christmastime and we want it to be special for him without having to lie to him in the years to come.

Mom Answers

Ever thought of telling them the real story about St Nicholas???
St Nicholas is the patron saint of many things, but for the purpose of this story we'll focus on the him as the patron saint of poor children. The most famous story of St. Nick is that of his generosity for 3 young sisters who wanted to marry but didn't have any dowries. As each was ready to marry, The Bishop, St. Nick, dropped bags of gold into their houses to pay for their weddings. He did this at night to not be discovered. For the 3rd sister, the dropped the bag of gold down the chimney where it fell into a "stocking" (or sock) that was hanging to dry (giving us the reason we hang Christmas stocking). The father of the girls saw St Nicholas do this and told the others of his generosity. This is why when we receive a gift unexpectedly we thank Nicholas. Many years later he became a patron saint. Those 3 bags of gold he gave to the sister became the symbol of his generosity. This is why we now picture St. Nick carrying "sacks" filled with gifts. The reason he merged with Christmas was because of his death so close to Christmas time.
His name evolded into Santa Claus over time. It comes directly from the name saint - Santo and Nicholas (where the Claus comes from)- imagine it said with an accent and in another language.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't tell your children this story. How you pull it into their everyday life and sitting on Santa's lap in the mall is up to you. But the story in and of itself is beautiful and something every child should know about.

I don't think I was upset that my parents lied about Santa, but that Santa wasn't real. Small children have vivid imaginations, they believe they are a lot of things, watch imaginary characters on tv that they think are real, etc. Santa is no different. I agree that Christmas is about Jesus, and teach my boys that, but Santa is a fun part of the season as well. Telling children about an imaginary character that is good, loving, and jolly is certainly better than some of the other imaginary images on tv.

I grew up believing in Santa and had a lot of fun as a child doing so, I didn't have any emotional trauma when I found out he wasn't real, I think that's all in how you explain it to your child. However, I do think that it's VERY important to teach children the TRUE meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. My husband and I do not put santa at the forefront of the Christmas season, we don't emphasize him in any way, and when we talk to our children about Christmas we always refer to the birth of Christ first and foremost and explain that santa is a fun thing but is not the true meaning.

You people need to get a grip! All you holyer then thous need to step back and act like the christians you claim to be. What gives you the rigth to be so judgemental of other's beliefs? What happened to treating other's as you would like to be treated? Or the fact that it is not our place to judge but Gods? Step down from your all knowing rightous soap box and start behaving instead of preacing!

If you are religious then of course that should be your main focus of these holy holidays. That being said I don't see anything wrong with a bit of fantasy and magic. The imagination is very important. I just don't see it as religion or fantasy what's wrong with both? Pretend, fantasy, imagination is not the same as lieing. Noone gets hurt when my child puts on a tutu and dances around the house pretending to be a famos dancer. Noone gets hurt if for such a short time (it goes by so fast) my child believes that some fat man who loves children brings them gifts once a year. There is no reason that you can't teach your children the true meaning of the holidays and have santa also.

Jess-it is true that the orginial winter festival had NOTHING to do with the one true GOD....but through the years (originating in the Catholic church) it has become a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord (i am NOT Catholic and believe much of thier doctrine is incorrect).... Easter also began as a pagan holiday...but has become a time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of new life-at spring time....
i respect your opinion....and am glad that you feel you have missed nothing by not celebrating this Christmas season....though i do not agree with all the whys and hows of where it came from-i enjoy the specialness of this time...and plan to share it with my children....i pray that you have the true reason of Joy all the year through in your own life: Jesus Christ!

we will tell our DD the story of the first St. Nic....and how he has come to represent the spirit of giving....but will focus on the TRUE meaning of the season from our Christian standpoint....that Jesus was born of a virgin and lived a perfect, sinless life...and died on the cross to save us from our sins....and we must do all we can to tell others of this: THE MOST MIRACULOUS GIFT ever given!!
BTW-my parents NEVER told me santa was real....but we loved the "magic" of Christmas without lies....it was and still is my favorite time of year

How can you ever teach your children NOT to lie to you but YOU as the parent they are meant to put all their trust in - LIES to them about fictional pagan characters! Think about this carefully. What is more important to you - conforming to society or having a trustworthy relationship with the most important human in your life.?

Any intelligent parent will investigate the facts & PROVE xmas has NOTHING to do with Jesus Christ's birth but everything to do with Pagan worship. We did & are happy to have never celebrated this festival. We love each other & give gifts all year through. THAT is true love - constant.

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